Final Draft 1

3 colour scheme - Red, Yellow and White
Continuous Font - Big and bubbly, links with genre
Model has eye contact - Draws reader in
Contains typical conventions

Photoshop Process

Screen Grabs of the process of producing my first draft.

 

Un-Used Images

These are some images that I was considering using for my front cover.
I really like these images and I think that I may experiment with them when making other drafts later on so I can make a judgement about which one will be best.
I think that all of them are appropriate for a magazine cover as I think they all have good framing that would allow for conventional  magazine features to be put on.
I like the ones where she is looking directly at the camera as I think these connect with the reader. I also like the ones with the tinsel because my issue is a december issue so I think having a theme makes it more interesting.

In this image I decided to change the costume so the colours of the outfit and the tinsel worked better together

Set Up

Set Up

These pictures show how I set up my photoshoot for my music magazine. I positioned the lights on either side of my model and one above to try and get even lighting around the set.










For the shoot I used Christmas props such as tinsel and presents because the issue that I am producing would be a December issue, so I think this will give the magazine an interesting theme.
I decided to have my model wear a bright yellow top firstly to reflect the genre of my magazine, as I think that pop music carries happy and bright connotations. I then got my model to change into a darker jumper in order to link more with the winter month.

Planning & Developing Ideas

The progression from my hand drawn drafts to my digital mock-ups using found images and my own shows the change in my ideas about my magazine design. My first hand drawn designs were very simple and not that creative but as I looked at more magazines and found inspiration from more places I came up with different designs, that experimented with conventions to give new ideas.

I think that I will use a simple colour scheme. I thought of using a black and white colour scheme, and then each week change the colour to link with the cover star. So for example if my cover star wears purple, I will have the colour scheme for that issue be black, white and purple. However I didn't think that this would reflect my genre very well as pop is usually represented by bright colours.

Social Class & Demographics

I am going to be aiming my magazine at the social class E, because most of the people between the ages of 14 and 25 will be in compulsory or higher education and most likely not employed.

Therefore, to appeal to the target audience I have to have an understanding o what they will like and what they can afford.

On my magazine I will have to have things and people that my audience can identify with, so main-stream artists and free gifts that will draw the reader in.

I will probably include free gifts like posters or a free downloadable song as I think that these gifts would appeal to all ages in my target audience. As for prizes and competitions I don’t think that I will have things like holidays because they wouldn’t be able to go by themselves. I think that the prizes would be more tangible objects that link to the magazine.

By identifying the social class of audience it will help me to decide what stories and articles to feature in my magazine. For example, very highly intellectual articles that include a lot of information probably wouldn’t appeal to the audience because they would be more interested in the entertainment side. 

Mock Ups

I have created this front cover mock up using google images and a website called 'picmonkey'. I have taken inspiration for the layout of my front cover after looking at different magazines. I have included conventional features on the front cover like a masthead, footer, cover lines and main headline.

I created this contents page mock up using google images and Microsoft PowerPoint. I have identified key conventions in this mock up, and this is a layout that I would consider using in my own magazine.
I came up with this layout after looking at the set up of contents pages in existing magazines.

This is a front cover mock up that I created on Photoshop using one of my test shots. I used this particular image for the front cover because I think that it works well. I think this because there was space above the focus of the image to add a masthead, and also space around the sides to add cover lines. The model is also looking straight at the camera, drawing the reader in.
I added another photo on the front as a thumbnail, this would give the reader a visual representation of the story it is linked with.

Box Drafts

This is a box draft for a potential front cover design. I like this design because it is different to ones that I have created before but still includes key conventions of a front cover that a reader would find familiar.















This is a box design of a contents page that I really like and am considering using for my actual magazine. It includes many key conventions like advertisements, thumbnails and stories with page numbers.















Double Page Spread:
conventional placement - main image on left
typical conventions - pull quotes, by line, headline etc
adding extra relating/external images - adds visual representation

Test Shots

Working in a group of 4 we took 10 test shots to look at the different types that could be used on a magazine front cover, and also to show examples of shots that would not be suitable.  We had to take examples of a 2 shot, a long shot, a group shot, medium close up, close up framing as a bad example, a posed shot.

This is an example of a long shot. This shot would not be suitable for a magazine cover because you can see the floor that is covered in wires, and the angle of the shot is unconventional for a magazine.

This shot is an example of a medium close -up. I think that this shot would be quite good if it were to be used as front cover for a magazine because I think that the space around the model helps to add conventional features like masthead, skyline and cover lines.

This shot is is an example of close up with bad framing. It is landscape which does not fit with the conventional framing of a magazine. The space around the photograph is not good because it doesn't allow you to be focused on the model in the image.

This shot is an example of a medium shot, that is posed.  Most magazine covers have a posed shot on the cover. However I don't think that shot would be suitable because I don't think that the shot is close enough and I believe that the framing of the shot is not that good because her am is cut out on the right hand side of the picture shot.

This shot would not be suitable for a magazine cover, the main focus of the image are not framed well and half of one of the models is cut off and is facing the wrong way.

This shot is an example of a medium close -up two shot. I think that this shot could be used on a magazine front cover because the models are framed nicely as you can them clearly in the image and there is space above their heads to add a masthead. I also think it would be good for a cover because they are looking directly at the camera capturing the attention of the reader. They are also posed which I think would look good on a cover.

This shot is an example of a medium close-up. I think that this shot would be suitable for a magazine cover because, the model is the main focus of the image, she is centred within the frame and there is space above her head and sides that would be helpful when adding conventional features such as a masthead and cover lines if it were to be used as a front cover.

This shot is an example of a medium long, group shot. I don't think this would be suitable for a front cover because I don't think the angle of the shot would look good because you can see the floor

medium group shot.